April 23: 'Role of First Amendment at Public University'

University of Minnesota Law School Professor Dale Carpenter to speak.

Mankato, Minn. – Dale Carpenter (pictured), a professor of civil rights and civil liberties law at the University of Minnesota Law School, will discuss the “role of the First Amendment at a public university” and the “possible conflict between freedom of expression and creating a welcoming environment” in two free public lectures on Tuesday, April 23 at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Carpenter will speak from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Morris Hall, Room 213, and again from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Morris Hall, Room 102. (Note: The lectures were originally scheduled for another room, but have been changed to the rooms listed to accommodate more attendees.)

In his presentation, Carpenter will address how public universities can reconcile conflicting values on campuses, what happens when freedom of expression includes expression that hurts and whether or not a public university should be able to regulate expression that offends some members of the university. Carpenter will answer questions from the audience at the end of his lectures.

Carpenter teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, the First Amendment, and sexual orientation and the law and is a frequent television, radio, and print commentator on those subjects.

In 2007, Carpenter was appointed the Earl R. Larson Professor of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law at the University of Minnesota’s Law School. Carpenter received his bachelor’s degree in history, magna cum laude, from Yale College in 1989. He received his juris doctor degree with honors, from the University of Chicago Law School in 1992. His full faculty profile is available at: http://www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/carpenterd.html

Carpenter’s lecture is sponsored by Minnesota State Mankato’s Office of Academic Affairs. For more information about the issues to be discussed, contact Warren Sandmann, associate provost & associate vice president for academic affairs, by phone at 507-389-1333, or by email at warren.sandmann@mnsu.edu.

Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 15,413 students, is part of the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system, which comprises 31 state institutions.